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Johnny Browne
Once a rising celebrity in entertainment, Jonathan "Charisma" Browne's future was taken from him when he was exposed to a toxic stew that left him resembling the infamous Joker. He vowed revenge on the Clown Prince of Crime and his associates for this, and declares himself an enemy of whoever would call criminals a friend. History Jonathan Browne was born and raised in a small town in the Midwest. He has commented that he found his "early life too boring to say anything about", other than that his parents loved him very much. In his later teenage years, he became dissatisfied with living a life of labor and developed dreams of being a big star. He spent his weekends at small comedy clubs in other nearby towns, impressing crowds with his natural talent for celebrity impressions, character sketches, and jaw-dropping singing. The way he talked and the energy in his work earned him the nickname "Charisma". He made a decent living doing this for a few years, until a national talent competition came near his hometown. He entered, introducing himself as "Johnny Charisma" and the audience loved him. Every week he had something entirely new and exciting to woo the judges and viewers. Though he lost in the finale of the competition, his name and style was so loved that major show-runners from across the country were trying to coax him into contracts. He eventually snapped up a contract for a Gotham club and moved to that big bright city. Johnny's celebrity went to his head quickly, however, and he was caught up on the wrong side of the law for a short time. He was charged with driving under the influence, as well as possessing drugs on multiple occasions. He cleaned up, going to rehab and making a public show of his renouncing of drugs, but he felt as though this record would follow him negatively for the rest of his life. He tried to become a spokesperson for Anti-Drug movements, but the owners of his club revealed a second nature of their business: a front for highly illegal narcotic distribution. They blackmailed him to stop his efforts, threatening his family back in the Midwest. Charisma felt he had no choice but to obey, and continued entertaining an audience he no longer wanted to have. Crossing the Wrong People One night, during a performance, Johnny made fun of the notorious Joker, mocking his persona and how easily Batman was able to defeat even his biggest plans. A few members of the Joker's crime syndicate were regulars to the club, and upon hearing this, they decided to do something about it. Pretending to be the owners of the club where he worked, Joker's goons lured Browne out to a dock at night. It wasn't long until the comedian found out he had been tricked, and Johnny tried to fight them and run. But he was quickly overpowered by his assailants. Under Joker's orders, the goons threw Johnny into a large vat of what they assumed was Joker's signature deadly toxin. Johnny escaped the vat and made it to a police station, but as he entered he was subdued by officers who were mistaking him for the Joker. Upon clearing up who he was and providing proof, Johnny learned that his appearance had been transformed by the toxin, bleaching his skin paper white and turning his eyes and hair green. Rather than kill him, the Joker had effectively made sure that Charisma's career was ruined. It wasn't long before news channels and magazines were running the expected shaming stories. "Johnny Charisma idolizes Joker?!", "How long until Charisma goes mad too?", "Joker, Jo-Char!" were among the many headlines to begin running. Charisma's fame turned to infamy, as his crowds at the club shrunk, the paparazzi at his home grew, until his club cancelled the contract. He became reclusive, and other stars started drawing the camera crews outside away. After a year of his unwilling retirement from entertainment, it seemed no one remembered who Johnny Charisma was. Revenge Begins With the paparazzi no longer tracking his every move, Johnny began acting upon a long-festering plot for revenge. It began with the club he'd worked for, or rather the dark side of that club. He watched their deals, memorizing their schedules, until he knew exactly when to call the police to stop a shipment. It was thrilling, being so close to danger, but it was too fleeting a feeling for Charisma to enjoy it. Something inside of him wanted to take credit for the bust too, though he had to remind himself it was to protect his family. Quietly, Johnny began learning to shoot and investing his time in discreet alliances with small-name vigilantes, practically begging them to teach him their ways. He was able to acquire a weaponized sonic system, powered by his own voice. He even stole a mask from one of Joker's goons, fitting it with his technology, with the intent to try and evolve a masked identity so that he could try and permanently take down the Joker. But Johnny was unable to keep himself anonymous, his ego steadily growing despite nothing to genuinely fuel it. In a moment of excitement on the street, Johnny was able to incapacitate a group of Joker's goons. He called the police, and was going to keep the call discreet, but in the middle of it he lost control of himself and admitted it was him that did it. At first the police didn't believe him, but evidence at the scene of the assault proved otherwise. He quickly abandoned his old apartment when he realised how he'd compromised his personal life, and began living off the radar. His megalomanical outbursts became more frequent as he took down more goons, leaving graffiti tags such as "Jo-Char was here!", and appearing when reporters were attempting to record on the scene. However, he admitted on one such impromtu interview that he was having less and less control over himself. the Exobytes Charisma became concerned with his continuing unhinged nature, but saw no way to receive help. But when the Brainiac invasion began and the exobytes were released onto the Earth, and the Justice League were openly broadcasting the call for help, Johnny saw help for himself, too. He got into contact with the expanded chem labs using his old vigilante contacts, and begged for the doctors there to keep him from losing his mind. They obliged and took him in, studying his unique predicament. Eventually, they found that the toxin was indeed responsible for his mental state, and were able to prevent it from continuing onward using technology derived from the Exobytes, though they could not properly reverse all of his troubles. Still, he was grateful and swore a second time to be like the rest of the heroes in the world. Personality Currently, Johnny is very much a showman. He acts like he is the host of everything, narrating whatever he can, and he eats up attention greedily. Though through this behavior, it can be expected that he is like a Joker on the good side, Johnny defines himself by being a genuinely friendly- albeit sarcastic- person. He taunts his enemies relentlessly, mocking them and trying to enrage them so they let their guard down. Character Trivia Johnny Browne is heavily based on a character of the same name from Batman: Arkham Knight. The character's history has changed to fit the DCUO mythos, as well as allowing for heroic alignment. Johnny is terrified of becoming like the Joker, so he actively tries to be nice. He lost the finale of the talent search to an animal circus group. They had trained their dogs and cats to stand paw-to-paw and dance together while birds whistled beautiful ballroom music. Even Johnny admits that he loved that performance and rewatches it often. In-game Notes "Johnny Browne" is a Gadget-power, Dual Pistol wielding hero character using the acrobatics travel power. He uses the Sonic Shout and (present box) iconic powers. ￼PSN user Raakshi plays him. As of yet he is not a member of any leagues. Category:Heroes